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Fall has arrived…and this is what we’re drinking.

Drinks of the Week

I have always liked my Martinis dry, at least I thought I was drinking them dry. I used “dry” vermouth and didn’t add olive brine (a dirty Martini). That’s a dry Martini to most people. But can you go drier? Apparently you can. I stopped in at Good Friend one afternoon for a cocktail. I was trying to decide what kind of drink I wanted and the bartender, Carlos asked, “Have you ever had a Bone Dry Martini?” Huh….what the heck is that? Of course, I had to try one. After all, how can you go wrong with good gin and scotch? From the bar’s eclectic selection of gins I chose Ford’s, a great classic London Dry Gin. What makes the Martini “Bone” Dry is rinsing the chilled Martini glass with scotch. Yes scotch! Carlos used Dewar’s White Label Blended Scotch Whiskey. But let’s not get too deep into scotches….that’s a whole blog or two or three.

Rinsing the glass with the scotch doesn’t actually mix any into the Martini, but leaves enough residue to give the cocktail a hint of the smoky barrel aged Scotch. Drier, yes. Why? Because you are not even adding dry vermouth in with the London Dry Gin. You can’t get much drier than that when making a Martini. I had mine with an olive (no juice), but you can also garnish with a lemon twist.

This was an awesome variation on a Dry Martini. Give it a try you will not be sorry. ~~Kay

BONE DRY MARTINI

2.5 ounces Ford’s Gin

A small amount of Dewar’s Scotch Whiskey

Glass: Chilled Martin

Garnish: Olive or lemon twist

Rinsed chilled Martini glass with the Dewar’s Scotch, pouring out any excess, but being sure the glass is coated.

Put the Gin in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into the chilled Martini glass and add garnish of your choice.

Hint: If you want to try this and you are not a big scotch drinker, you can purchase a small (200 mil) bottle of quality scotch at most package stores. Since you don’t need much each time, spring for the good stuff.

We’ve had a couple of cold fronts here in South Texas—okay, okay, so it’s only been in the low 50s—but cold enough to get me thinking about fall drinks. I found a couple of cocktails that I thought you’d enjoy. ~~Lynda

Maple Perfect Manhattan

2 oz. rye whiskey

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

1 T. maple syrup

2 dashes bitters (I used Angostura)

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. You can serve this on the rocks if you prefer.

The dry vermouth balances out the maple syrup so this is a sweeter Manhattan but not too sweet.

This next cocktail recipe makes 4 drinks so it would be a great choice for mixing if you had a few friends coming over.

Sidecar Martini (recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis)

Makes 4 drinks

1/2 cup sugar

1 lime, zested

10 oz. cognac

4 oz. Triple Sec

4 oz. sweet & sour

4 oz. Limoncello

2 oz. lime juice

Combine sugar and lime zest in a shallow dish. Run a lime wedge over the rim of 4 martini glasses and dip the glasses in the sugar mixture. Set aside. Add the other ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to chill. Strain martinis into the sugar rimmed glasses. Garnish with an orange wheel if you like.

Hope you enjoy these fall cocktails. Be sure to let us know if you try one and really love it (or not). Send us your requests for cocktails—research is our favorite thing.

Coming Soon: Part 2 of the Austin brewery tour, Bar Essentials for the Holidays and Why Do We Call Them Cocktails?